Census figures show walking, cycling, taking public transit to work are all on the increase.

Chris Blackloch and Greg Andre-Barrett, rear, cycle 45 kilometres from Oakville to work in downtown Toronto all year, weather permitting. April 2, 2008

By:Francine KopunFeature Writer, Published on Thu Apr 03 2008

Toronto commuters are going green.

Census figures released yesterday show greater numbers of commuters are walking or cycling to work in the city or using public transportation.

"I have a car, I have access to public transit. I choose to do this, even in the middle of winter," says Chris Blackloch, 44, who cycles 45 kilometres from Oakville to Toronto, winter and summer, weather permitting. "It's a good way to blow out any frustrations and cobwebs on the way home from your work."

Blackloch is one of the thousands of people who took up cycling to work in Toronto between 2001 and 2005, the time period covered by the last census. The number of people cycling to work in the Toronto CMA rose 33.2 per cent over those five years, to 22,540.

"I was an out-of-shape, pretty overweight guy when I started and within a few years of riding my bicycle I've lost weight and found a new lifestyle," says Blackloch, a film technician who lives in north Oakville and works near Adelaide and Sherbourne.

Thousands more commuters began walking or hopping on public transit during the same period – travelling green grew by 7.2 per cent in the CMA. Toronto was also the Canadian CMA with the highest public transit use by commuters.

"By the end of this year we'll be up over 70 million rides from 2001," said TTC chair Adam Giambrone yesterday. Ridership peaked last year at just under 460 million rides.

"The problem is once you leave the 416, the service is nowhere close to being there," says Giambrone.

Employment is the primary driver of public transit, says Giambrone, and the suburbs are experiencing greater job growth than Toronto, according to the Statistics Canada report, Commuting Patterns and Places of Work of Canadians, 2006 Census.

Vaughan saw an increase of 22 per cent in the number of workers between 2001 and 2006, while the number of people whose place of work was in Barrie CMA rose 20.2 per cent. The number of people who worked in the Toronto CMA rose 6 per cent. The report credits high population growth in the suburbs for the trend.

In all, 1.2 million people commute to and within the City of Toronto each day, says Martin Turcotte, lead analyst on the report.

Fewer are driving – 5.4 per cent less. More are sharing a car – 15.7 per cent more in Toronto. The report says new carpool lanes and the increase in the price of gas, along with more environmental awareness, are among the factors that could account for the increase in the number of passengers.

The number of workers with no fixed address – like Toronto freelance makeup artist Teryl Crombie – has increased, according to the report. Crombie travels to different jobs every day or every week – doing makeup for movies or providing manicures or eyebrow waxing to people in their homes.

"I have my kits ready to go, they're portable, so that when I get the call, I can go off to the location," she says.

The report says such workers present a challenge to urban planners because they make it difficult to estimate how many people will use a particular road or public transit when they travel to destinations that vary from day to day.

Diehard cyclists, meanwhile, lobby for dedicated bike lanes and paths. Phil Moore, 39, who cycles 20 kilometres to his job as head mechanic at Cyclepath in Oakville, has been hit by cars twice, once breaking an ankle and on another occasion, a bone in his knee. A driver once hurled a half-finished McDonald's milkshake at him.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.